July 10, 2008


AUSA sent a legislative alert the other day urging our members to contact members of Congress and tell them to complete action on legislation to reverse the 10.6 percent reduction in Medicare and TRICARE physician payment rates the went into effect on July 1st. Well, yesterday, Congress did just that and now the ball lies in the President’s corner – not this President’s Corner but the one on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue!

The President’s staff has recommended he veto the legislation. I urge him not to do so! Why? TRICARE reimbursements are tied to Medicare payment rates and any reduction will diminish enormously the incentive for doctors to see any uniformed services beneficiaries – not just those over age 65. Finding doctors who accept TRICARE is an enormous problem for the military community - particularly for Guard and Reserve families, retirees, and survivors who live in areas with a small military population. Reimbursement cuts will make the situation even worse.

A veto could affect the health care for over 9.2 million uniformed service beneficiaries of all ages – particularly the more than 2 million TRICARE Standard and 65,000 TRICARE Reserve Select users.

The President must recognize these unintended consequences of a veto and take the high road. Service members in harm’s way should not have to worry about whether their families can obtain health care. There will be long-term negative consequences to retention and readiness if the military TRICARE program cannot provide access to high quality health care.

So from one President’s Corner to another – DO NOT VETO the legislation that will reverse the reduction in Medicare physician payment rates. The members of the uniformed services and their families who sacrifice so much to defend our nation should not also sacrifice their access to health care.